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It's my fault, Argos' Andrus admits

By Daniel GirardSports Reporter

Sun., Aug. 30, 2009

Chalk one up for the Saturday morning quarterbacks.

Toronto Argonauts rookie head coach Bart Andrus, widely questioned for not attempting a possible game-tying field goal on the last play of Friday night's home loss to the Calgary Stampeders, admitted yesterday that he made a mistake.

Quarterback Cody Pickett looks a little dejected as he walks off the field after the Argos’ heartbreaking 23-20 loss to the Calgary Stampeders on Aug. 28, 2009. (MIKE CASSESE / REUTERS)

"It's on me," Andrus said at the Argos' practice facility in Mississauga after coaches and players dissected game films of the 23-20 loss.

"It's a decision that we made (Friday) night and, after reviewing it, after looking at all the things that went into that particular play, we would have done it differently. We will do it differently next time.

"I would kick the field goal faced with that situation again."

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Trailing by three points with five seconds to go in the game and the ball on the Calgary 50-yard line, Andrus elected to have quarterback Cody Pickett try one more throw – an unsuccessful Hail Mary – rather than let kicker Justin Medlock attempt a 57-yard field that, if good, would have forced overtime.

In his post-game news conference Friday night, Andrus maintained that he didn't try the field goal because "I thought it was too far."

Andrus said Friday night the hope was to get a few yards on a quick play, stop the clock and get Medlock onto the field. But, he added, Pickett found nothing open short and had to resort to a long downfield pass that was batted away a little short of the end zone.

The loss extended the Argos' winless streak at home to a club-record 10 straight games dating back to Aug. 1 of last season. They have lost four in a row and sit last in the CFL East with a 2-6 record.

Medlock, who had made two field goals earlier in the game and is 20 of 21 on the season, told reporters in the locker room he expected to make an attempt and was quite surprised when the ball was snapped while he stood on the sidelines.

"I thought it was within my range," said Medlock, whose only miss this season was a 57-yarder that had the distance but hit the upright with 26 seconds left in a 13-12 home loss to Winnipeg on Aug. 1.

"I wanted the chance," he said. "It just didn't happen."

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Medlock, who said he hit the crossbar from 60 yards in the pre-game warm-up, blamed the decision on "miscommunication" and added: "I probably should have just ran out onto the field.

"Just put me on the field and I'll make it. That's the way I look at it."

Andrus said he talked with Medlock at length about the play yesterday morning and smoothed things over with the 25-year-old CFL rookie out of UCLA.

Despite regrets over the last play, Andrus said the game shouldn't have come down to that.

Leading 20-16 with just over three minutes to go, the Argo defence forced a Calgary turnover at the Toronto 25. But, after the offence was unable to move the ball and run down the clock, the Stampeders marched 39 yards in four plays to score the winning touchdown with 46 seconds remaining.

It was the second straight game the Argos lost in the final minute.

Andrus, a former head coach in NFL Europa and an offensive assistant with the NFL's Tennessee Titans, got an endorsement from Adam Rita earlier in the week when the Argos' general manager said, "We're going to stay the course."

Andrus, who said he will continue to act as offensive coordinator as he and management agreed when he was hired in the off-season, said the team is improving, but just needs more consistency.

"We've seen glimpses of how good we can be on both sides of the ball," Andrus said. "Now, we need to put it together and have a game where we win one going away."

Andrus insisted the Argos, who went 4-14 last season, are not destined for a similar fate this year.

The Argos next play the Tiger-Cats on Labour Day in Hamilton.

Linebacker Zeke Moreno, who had an interception, a fumble recovery and knocked down a pass on Friday, acknowledged that the level of frustration is rising among the players as the losses mount.

"It's to the point where I really don't want to speak to you guys (in the media) because I don't want to say something I regret," he said.

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